Now Commenting On:

Young the same before, after milestone

Young the same before, after milestone

By
/
|

ARLINGTON -- Michael Young certainly didn't let any possible pressure, anxiety or anticipation about his 2,000-hit milestone impact his hitting.

Young's two hits on Sunday night not only allowed him to reach 2,000 hits for his career, but also left him hitting .405 with two home runs, 14 RBIs, a .447 on-base percentage and a .582 slugging percentage in his past 14 games.

"It didn't bother me," Young said. "It wasn't like I was fighting it or up against the clock. I wasn't going to retire once I got it. Now that it's done, it's back to winning games. It's nice and I'm happy to get it, now it's time to move on."

The big one is 3,000 hits. That's the ultimate milestone for a hitter, and it will likely be early 2017 or later before Young starts approaching that exclusive club. That's why he's not eager to answer a whole lot of questions about it in '11.

But the consensus around the Rangers is Young has a real shot at it if he stays healthy. He has never been on the disabled list in his career, and the only significant time he's ever missed was in September 2009 because of a strained left hamstring.

"The one thing that I am confident about is my ability to stay healthy," Young said. "The one thing I'm very confident about is my ability to stay healthy. There are things that are out of your control, but I know my body and I know what it takes to be effective and maintain my approach to play as hard as I can for as long as I can."

Young is the 14th player to reach 2,000 hits with one of baseball's 14 expansion franchises.